Today, we arrived in Madrid. This place is huge, in fact, according to Dre's super dorky tour guide books, it's the third largest city in Europe. These books have been a godsend though, we have used them for everything and they are super helpful. Being my fathers daughter, I hate looking like a tourist (even when I have no idea what I'm doing), but Dre insists on pulling them out, no matter how cool I'm trying to look.
Madrid feels like an enormous city that is brimming with culture and vibrant people. Walking around the streets is a great way to feel the buzzing heartbeat of the city and it's constant hum of activity. It was a Saturday night tonight, and Madrid did not disappoint. Dre and I spent time just walking around our hostel to get a look at our surroundings. If you take a right, the street leads down to a plaza that was filled with locals drinking wine, which is a custom on weekend nights. They all take there bottles of wine to a plaza and have a sort of "wine picnic" before heading to tapas bars. There was a really cool group of hoodlums doing bike tricks that were really impressive and the square was packed. We found the cutest restaurant in it's second day of operation, and the food was delicious (maybe my favorite yet).
We walked down the street directly in front of our hostel after dinner. It lead to a whole new set of street performers that were incredible. Dre and I spent 30 min with about 50 other locals listening to three men play guitar. There was a rendition of "Hallelujah" that sent shivers down my spine and a few other American songs mixed with some of the foot stomping Spanish rhythms.
It was around 11, and we continued down the street and came across a famous square, "Puerta Del Sol". Unfortunately, Dre and I had unknowingly walked right in the middle of a protest filled shanti town. Thankfully, Dre had left the tour books at home, and we tried to keep the English speaking to a minimum until we were out of the square. I'm sure we fit right in and no one noticed. (I'm hoping my sarcasm transcends the written words of the last sentence)
Tomorrow, we researched a ENORMOUS flea market that is said to be the largest in Europe. It's called Rastro and sounds like Lacey's heaven, but I think we are all really excited. It's now 2 am, and due to my 4 hour long siesta, I'm not the least bit tired... However, because of Lacey's ability to stay at flea markets for inordinate amounts of time, I better get some rest. I love you guys! Adios!
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